Frenzied finishes have become the norm in games between the Carmel and Center Grove high school football teams.

Carmel beat host Center Grove 33-32 in the third week of the regular season last year when wide receiver Nick Logan scooped up a fumble by quarterback Morgan Newton and ran it 8 yards into the end zone with 33 seconds left, and the Greyhounds added a two-point conversion.

Center Grove has won 14 consecutive games since, including 36-33 over Carmel in the Class 5A title game after rallying from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Tonight’s Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference opener features largely a different cast but could have the same drama. 5A No. 4 host Carmel (1-1) returns 10 starters and No. 1 Center Grove (2-0) three starters.

“Obviously, the fact that we played two close games last year and them beating us in the state championship kind of adds to it, but this is always a big, big game,” Carmel coach Mo Moriarity said.

The winner of today’s game takes home the Copper Kettle trophy, emblematic of football supremacy between the schools.

Cathedral faces Ohio power

Since Cathedral began playing Cincinnati St. Xavier 10 years ago, it has compiled a 94-25 record (.790 winning percentage) and won three state championships . . . but gone 1-8 against the Bombers.

“If there’s a program up and down our schedule that we’ve had trouble with, it’s been this team,” Cathedral coach Rick Streiff said of Saturday’s 1:45 p.m. Horseshoe Classic game at Lucas Oil Stadium "They’re just really good. They just don’t make mistakes. They very, very, very rarely beat themselves.

“This is a really, really big test for us.”

The 4A No. 1 Irish have beaten the top team in 5A the past two weeks in Carmel and Warren Central .

Coming off an injury-plagued 4-6 season, St. Xavier wasn’t receiving its usual preseason attention, but it then beat Colerain, ranked 13th nationally by USA Today, 16-0 in its opener.

Saturday’s other Horseshoe Classic matchups: Zionsville vs. Noblesville at 11 a.m., Columbus North vs. Bloomington North at 4:30 p.m. and Pike vs. Southport at 7:15 p.m.

Howe had real scare

It has been an emotional season for the Howe football team, and it has nothing to do with the Hornets’ 0-2 start. With five minutes remaining in the team’s first practice, lineman Larry Anderson collapsed.

“There was no heartbeat,” first-year coach Jim Spurgeon said. “He was dead.”

With the use of a defibrillator, assistant coach Trevor Wilson , who is an EMT, and trainer Jason Moffitt revived Anderson. The junior’s football and wrestling careers are over — he plans to throw the shot put in the spring — but Anderson had a pacemaker installed and returned to the team as a manager at the end of the first week of practice.

The Hornets, who host 1-1 Arlington at 7 p.m. today, are wearing the initials ‘LA’ on their uniforms in Anderson’s honor.

“It took us back a little bit and made us re-dedicate, but it’s brought us closer together,” Spurgeon said. “We’re so proud of Larry. He’ll be there on the sidelines and we’re extremely excited.”

Eagles’ defense to be tested

Heritage Christian’s pass-happy offense has gotten much of the attention during the program’s sudden rise to elite status the past three seasons, but the defense has been the strength of the team. The unit was eighth in the state in 2007, allowing 10.5 points per game, and seventh last year at 9.5.

The defense will get its toughest test of the season today against Anderson Highland, which is averaging 51.5 points.

4A Anderson Highland replaced Lapel — which had to drop Heritage Christian when it joined the Indiana Crossroads Conference — on the schedule.

“We’re stepping out a little bit and the program Anderson Highland had, I felt, would be a real test,” Eagles coach Ron Qualls said.

Call star reporter Nat Newell at (317) 444-5536.